According to what Dai Jingbin said, several generals in Qianhusuo City in front of Xiahe Village deliberately allowed soldiers to flee, just to pretend to receive and embezzle military pay. Not only that, Chi Xu, Huang Wenxian and others also usurped a large amount of farmland, but did not pay a grain of grain for the farmland. Instead, they transferred the entire burden to the ordinary soldiers, further increasing the burden on ordinary military households.
From Tian Huisu, a hundred households in Qianhusuo City, to Chi Xu, a hundred households, each of them occupied more than 2,000 acres of fertile land. Not only that, they also privately used soldiers and military households to cultivate the fields for them, and built buildings on weekdays. A large number of soldiers were also employed for house construction, transportation of private goods and other matters.
In addition, the culture of accepting bribes is even more common among the Qianhusuo City Army. The officers also have a regular bribery income, which is "buying leisure". Each soldier here only needs to pay the general a few hundred dollars a month. You can just do nothing, and then just go on to do other things for a living.
Even horses can be bought for free. As long as the soldiers pay a few hundred dollars a month, they can use their horses to engage in other livelihoods.
Today, most of the soldiers with vacancies in the school grounds are fleeing soldiers. Many of them have not been seen for several months and do not know where they have gone. Because there were too many soldiers, even though Chi Xu and others temporarily recruited a large number of soldiers to make up the number, they were still far from enough to fill the gap.
After hearing this, Liu Yan couldn't help but sigh. This kind of thing about soldiers buying leisure was common in the late Qing Dynasty, but he didn't expect that this kind of thing had already happened in the late Ming Dynasty.
At this time, Liu Yan felt full of complaints from Dai Jingbin. As the deputy Qianhu Tuen officer in Qianhusuo City, Dai Jingbin had a large number of generals occupying Dingkou of the farmland, so that his annual grain payment amount reached Because he didn't meet the Shangguan's request, he didn't get a chance to get a reward. Dai Jingbin was full of resentment towards his colleagues in the city.
It is precisely because of this that Dai Jingbin got together with Mrs. Xu and others before, just to get some money and food to deal with Shangguan.
However, in the past, Dai Jingbin was weak in Qianhusuo City. Now that he has an old acquaintance like Liu Yan, even if he is an old acquaintance, Dai Jingbin took the opportunity to come and join him.
Dai Jingbin's special visit tonight was the result of careful consideration. When he said this to Liu Yan, he was determined to stand by Liu Yan. If any of his words leak out, unless Liu Yan takes care of him, he will no longer have a foothold in Qianhusuo City.
Liu Yan looked at Dai Jingbin and said with a smile: "Old Dai, you are familiar with Qianhusuo City. I will rely on you in the future."
Dai Jingbin was overjoyed. Liu Yan said such words, which showed that he regarded him as a confidant, so Dai Jingbin immediately knelt down and kowtowed: "I am willing to die for you, go through fire and water, no matter what."
Liu Yan helped him up. After Dai Jingbin sat down happily, Liu Yan pondered for a while and said: "The city of Qianhu has been so ruined that I have no choice but to tear it down and rebuild it! But first, I want to fully understand the city. The situation inside and outside. Lao Dai, please take me for a walk outside the city during these days and wait for detailed discussions before making a decision."
"I obey my orders!"
After the two talked for a while, Dai Jingbin left with satisfaction.
Liu Yan, on the other hand, fell into deep thought. The problems existing in the Thousand Households in front of Xiahe Village were beyond his expectation. Now it seems that Liu Yan has completely given up on the previous idea of "renovating" the Thousand Households in front of Xiahe Village, and instead I decided to start over again.
Just when Liu Yan was about to think carefully about countermeasures, Chen Xun reported outside: "Sir, Inspector Song, the inspection department of the ancient town, wants to see you."
"Um?"
Liu Yan said: "Let him come in."
"yes."
After the initial conflict, Liu Yan and Song Gongming could not make a deal without fighting. Later, their communication was limited to business contacts. In other aspects, the two did not have much contact.
At this time, Liu Yan jumped from the chief flag officer of Huolu Dun to the Qianhu Defense Officer of Qianhu Station in front of Xiahe Village, and became the superior officer inspecting Song Gongming. This situation made Song Gongming a little unable to sit still.
So after Song Gongming prepared a heavy gift, he rushed directly to the Qianhusuo City in front of Xiahe Village and prepared to meet Liu Yan.
A moment later, Song Gongming walked in with a smile on his face and saluted Liu Yan from afar.
"Inspector of the Ancient Town Inspection Department under my command, Song Gongming, pays homage to the Lord of Defense!"
Liu Yan smiled and waved his hand and said, "Inspector Song, we are all old acquaintances. There is no need to be so polite. Sit down."
Song Gongming clasped his fists again, then found a seat, sat down with only half his buttocks, and sat down in a hush.
Afterwards, Liu Yan exchanged a few words with Song Gongming and asked, "Song's inspection came today. Is there something wrong?"
Song Gongming said: "Haha, it's like this. My subordinates were very happy when they heard that your Excellency has entered the Qianhu House in front of Xiahe Village. No, I have prepared a small gift, and I hope that Your Excellency will accept it."
Liu Yan smiled and said: "Inspector Song is so polite now. We are all acquaintances. Why are we doing this?"
Then Liu Yan took the gift list, took a brief look at it, and saw that the gift list was worth about one hundred and eighty taels of silver, and then he smiled and handed over.
"We are all old acquaintances. If Inspector Song has anything to do, just tell him."
Since Liu Yan didn't like to beat around the bush, Song Gongming smiled and said directly: "Sir, my subordinate is in charge of the Ancient Town Inspection Department. He has never made much achievements and is very uneasy. So I came here today to ask for advice from you. After I go back It’s better to be more progressive and share your worries for the adults.”
Liu Yan finally understood. This Song Gongming had said a lot over and over again, and it was just that he came to seek refuge with him. Originally, Liu Yan and Song Gongming had a business partnership. However, as Liu Yan changed from a subordinate to a peer, and now became Song Gongming's superior, this business partnership no longer existed. Song Gongming had to He had to make a choice, either to join Liu Yan or to give up the sea salt, soap, and Shaoguo wine business. After all, I had never heard of anyone in the world getting a share of the money from doing business with the official.
Liu Yan smiled and said, "I understand. In that case, how will Inspector Song manage the Ancient Town Inspection Department?"
Song Gongming came prepared this time and said: "My lord, I know that your Majesty has only soldiers and no servants under your command, so I decided to follow your example. Before coming here, I had summoned my servants and the disciples of the clan. All hands are gone."
"oh?"
When Song Gongming said this, Liu Yan was really a little surprised, and he was also a little impressed with Song Gongming. This man's determination was really beyond his expectation.
"Well, it's really not easy for you to have such knowledge. I'm very happy."
Song Gongming immediately laughed out loud and said, "If your master is satisfied, my subordinates will be very happy."
"The next step for me is to follow your example and reorganize the troops of the Ancient Town Inspection Department. After training for a period of time, I will invite you to inspect it. Don't worry..."
Liu Yan raised his hand to stop Song Gongming. Song Gongming stopped respectfully and looked at Liu Yan to wait for the next step.
Liu Yan said with a smile: "I am going to add a hundred-household official position in Qianhusuo City in front of Xiahe Village to take care of the winery, salt drying field and soap workshop for me. I wonder if Inspector Song is interested. ?”
Song Gongming was immediately dumbfounded.
"S-Sir, if this subordinate has done something wrong, please tell me clearly!"
Liu Yan said: "Don't misunderstand me, I have no intention of disposing of you, I am just asking for your opinion."
Liu Yan immediately stood up and walked to Song Gongming's side. Song Gongming stood up hurriedly when he saw this. The expression on his face was ugly. He didn't know what Liu Yan was going to do. Could it be that he wanted to be relieved of his duties as an inspector in the Ancient Town Inspection Department?
"We are old acquaintances. What happened before has been overturned a long time ago, so I won't mention it again. It's just that I think your ability lies not in governing politics or leading troops, but in business. Inspector Song is good at dealing with businessmen. Yes, he also knows how to make money.”
Liu Yan asked Song Gongming to sit down and said: "I already understand this clearly. You and Mr. Wang Wenzhen manage a trade route together, but the money you earn is more than 20% more than Mr. Wang. This is your skill. !”
Song Gongming looked at Liu Yan thoughtfully and said, "Your Majesty wants to transfer his subordinates to Qianhu House in front of Xiahe Village. Isn't it really to deal with his subordinates?"
"Of course not!"
Liu Yan then expressed his thoughts: "When you come to Qianhu Station in front of Xiahe Village, you will still be the official of Baihu, responsible for managing the business of soap workshop, salt drying field and wine shop. As long as you do well, these businesses will have a certain value." How about the profits being yours and settled monthly?"
Song Gongming was overjoyed. Although he only got 10% of the profits, the specific amount was also very considerable when accounting for the business of the soap workshop, salt drying field, and wine shop. This was much better than his bitter business in the ancient town inspection department.
So Song Gongming immediately agreed and promised that he would sort out the affairs of the ancient town and wait for Liu Yan to send someone to take over.
Liu Yan laughed loudly, patted Song Gongming on the shoulder and said: "That's right. You, Song Baihu, are a sensible person. I'm very pleased. In this way, three days later, I will send Baihuguan Wang Bo to lead his troops. Just hand over the matters to Wang Baihu, and I will handle the matter between you and Wang Baihu as soon as possible."
Song Gongming cupped his fists and said, "Don't worry, sir. I will cooperate with you."
After sending Song Gongming away, Liu Yan called Wang Bo and said, "I appointed you as an inspector of the Ancient Town Inspection Department. Can you do it well?"
Wang Bo was stunned for a moment when he heard this, and then he became ecstatic and said: "Your Excellency praises my subordinates so much. I will definitely manage the Ancient Town Inspection Department for you. Please rest assured!"
"You, like Zhang Yi, are both officials assigned to the local area by me. You must strictly follow the requirements of the infantry drill code, lead the troops well, defend the ground well, and obey my orders. Any new policy I implement, you and Zhang It’s the same as righteousness, it must be carried out to the letter, do you understand?”
Wang Bo was originally from the Dunjun Army, and was promoted by Liu Yan to the level of Baihu Official. He had long been loyal to Liu Yan in his heart. Naturally, he would not have a second thought. He immediately said: "Don't worry, sir. I will definitely keep it in mind, sir." If you say one thing, your subordinates will never say otherwise!"
"good!"
After Liu Yan gave Wang Bo instructions, he ordered Wang Bo to lead his troops to the inspection department of the ancient town within three days to make a good handover with Song Gongming, and to imitate what he did in Wangjiazhuang, in the ancient town. The Inspection Department verifies the accounts of soldiers and horses, military equipment, money, grain, cultivated land, etc., and if there is a shortage of manpower, they can report it to Liu Yan, and if they need support, they can also ask for it.
Liu Yan's only request is to reorganize the ancient town inspection department within half a year and make it the same as Wangjiazhuang.
This requirement was actually very high, but Wang Bo was full of energy and went back that day to reorganize his troops and prepare to lead his troops out the next day.
Early the next morning, Liu Yan sent away Wang Boyi's sentry horse, and then found Dai Jingbin, the deputy of the 100th household, and ordered Xu Ming of the 100th household to lead his troops to accompany them, and went to various military camps and farmland to inspect the situation.
Some people died, but not completely...
